Ranger Headquarters

Big Pine National Forest, Knotty Pine

Monday, September 6, 2010

Knotty Pine GAZETTE - Blackfoot Mystery Jar

Historians Arrive at Ranger HeadquartersNews continues to come from Ranger Headquarters at Big Pine National Forest.Ranger Gray Wolf tells the GAZETTE that archaeologists and historians from State U arrived this week to inspect the medal, code paper, and leather book found in a jar given to Gray Wolf by Blackfoot Indian Alan Beaver.The historians immediately identified the medal as an authentic silver Jefferson Peace Medal (See a medal at http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=350). The medals were used throughout the Jefferson administration and given as token of peace and friendship. The medals were often given by explorers working for the US government to Indian chiefs. The code paper appears to be a copy of the code used by Lewis and Clark in their exploration of the Louisiana Territory. They and their Corps of Discovery were searching for a passage up the Missouri River through the Rockies to the west coast from 1804 to 1806. Careful early examination of the leather book leads the archaeologists to believe this to be an authentic journal of Meriwether Lewis written during that trip.You and The Lewis and Clark CodeNow you can use the same code that Lewis and Clark used to send messages to President Thomas Jefferson. Below are two websites where you can make a copy of the Lewis and Clark Code as well as instructions on how to use the code to write your own secret messages to your friends!http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/legacy/secretcode.htmhttp://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp296-02.shtml